Go Green with Your College Application Essays: Recycle!

If you are applying to multiple colleges this fall, you will need to write multiple essays for the different applications. The Common Application helps you consolidate many of your applications and only requires one main essay. But if you are applying to public...

CBS Digs Essay Hell’s Topic Tips!

  College Application Essays Tips for Finding Topics That CBS Finds Worth Repeating A couple days ago, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, a journalist who covers college admissions issues for CBS, featured this blog in her column for MoneyWatch. How cool is that? She...

Become a Storyteller in Under Five Minutes

College Application Essays A Mini-Lesson from a Storytelling Pro   I found this brilliant little example of how to understand what makes up a good story today in a column written by the talented sportswriter and journalist named Tommy Tomlinson. If you are...

Oprah and Prompt 2 of The Common Application

  Yesterday, I wrote about how you can answer Prompt #2 of The Common Application and write about recovering from a failure. Coincidentally, our favorite motivator Oprah Winfrey stood up in front of the graduating class at Harvard University just last weekend and...

The Perfect Topic: Right Under Your Nose

  College Application Essays: Search For the Perfect Topic It’s Closer Than You Think   I’ve learned a lot about what makes a great essay topic over the last six years I’ve helped students with their college application essays. If you’re...

College Essay Help from The Best: The New York Times

  Mentor Essays for The Common App And Other College Application Essays   If you are one of those students who understands how important these college admissions essays can be to landing in the school of your dreams, the New York Times just published a dream...

The Ultimate Essay Checklist

  College Admissions Essays Final Checklist So you think you are done with your college admission essay or personal statement. Wait! You have worked so hard on that essay; it’s worth an extra few minutes to make sure it’s as good as you can make it. I...

Still Looking for That Magic Topic? Try a Sample!

  College Admissions Essays: Samples Samples of College Admissions Essays and Personal Statements– and Why They Can Help You Write Yours!!   I always tell my students that one of the best ways to find great topic ideas is to read the essays of other...

5 Top Tips on Finding Topics for College Admissions Essays

  College Admissions Essays: Five Tips for the Perfect Topic Still looking for a college application essay topic that will set you apart from the pack?   Here are my Top Five Tips on finding compelling and memorable topics:   1. Start with a defining...

Twilight as a Topic? No Way!

College Admissions Essays: Finding topics in unlikely places   I would never have believed that writing about the Twilight series could be a super essay topic–not in a million years. But below, I’m going to share how one of my brightest students...